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Stop the vacuum & develop a successful funnel
Google’s major algorithm change has revealed a major flaw in small to medium-sized businesses.
Recently, Rand Fishkin of moz.com, outlined on his YouTube show, Whiteboard Friday, what is not an adequate SEO strategy. He made his point by asking the following questions.
What keywords do we want to rank for?
How do we get links?
What is our site speed and are we mobile?
What about Penguin and Panda?
When do I get money?
He pointed to the necessity of the development of a stable funnel which included the successful application of four areas.
- Search
- Repeat visitors
- Email signup
- Conversion
If your thinking, “we already have an audience searching our product, repeat site visitors, email signups, and conversions,” then your already afflicted with the flaw. True success is not retaining an existing audience, rather continually expanding it.
Any strategy must have accountability to creators, managers, and directors, for obtaining ongoing measured results. We often find the business founder, owner, or president, is misinformed on strategies and results, promoting ignorance and a mediocre mindset.
Having a presence on Google search pages, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, or the myriad of other transmitters to an audience, does not guarantee ongoing successful measured results.
Taking control of your marketing strategy requires asking basic questions. Success is attained in the application of the answers. Ask and answer these questions.
Does our content answer searchers questions?
Basing content creation on what your thinking is not what your customers are thinking. Consider where your customer questions are coming from, the searcher’s location, culture, language, ideology, and purchasing power. Evaluate the searches and then cater the content to the dominant questions, queries, and requests.
What is our value to customers?
Identify the one unique added value you provide in your market sector. Use that as a magnet to draw in all other service areas. Successful content creators are not copycats. To separate yourself from the pack your message must explain why and what your value is to your audience.
Can anyone help us expand our message?
Develop relationships with collaborators, disciples, partners, associates, affiliates, or contacts who can help amplify your message. Stop preaching to the choir and create conversations about your message and get your message beyond your current audience.
Do we have a plan for converting visitors into customers?
If you fail to plan, then your planning to fail. Status quo strategists are always testing things, but never committing the adequate time and resources to a basic executable plan. Ask your customers for input, suggestions, thoughts, impressions, and ideas. Fire the socialist-minded and hire the capitalist!
Does our plan appeal to search engines?
Not keeping pace with search engine progress will leave you behind your competitors not in front of them. Follow their parameters, guidelines, and algorithms or you will plateau and not grow.